ELKHART — If this were a movie, it would be “Groundhog Day” for both Central and Warsaw.

For the Blue Blazers, it’s getting as irksome as it was to Bill Murray’s Phil Connors. The Tigers, though, they’re loving the repetition.

For the seventh straight time, Central suffered a narrow loss after leading in the fourth quarter, this time as Warsaw beat the Blazers 47-45 Tuesday night in a boys basketball game featuring a frenzied finish at North Side Gym.

There were six lead changes in the final five minutes before Blake Brouwer’s decent-look 3-pointer from just outside the arc fell just short for Central as time expired.

The Blazers dropped to 2-7 while the Tigers improved to 8-4 with their third consecutive two-point victory over a span of five days.

“I think this is a win our guys can be proud of,” Warsaw coach Doug Ogle said, citing the compacted stretch of schedule as well as the shooting woes that his club overcame.

Added Ogle, “I think Elkhart Central is just of the cusp of putting it together.”

“It’s not similar. It’s exactly (the same),” Blazer coach Troy Noble said of what might’ve been different or similar about this latest loss. “We’ve needed one play in seven straight games. It’s literally come down to one play every time, either offensively or defensively.”

The seven losses have come by a combined 23 points.

In this one, Terell Steet finished with a team-high 12 points and two steals despite sitting out the final 14 minutes of the first half with two fouls.

JJ Stahl added 10 points and two blocked shots, Brouwer had nine points and Jaron Walters eight, while Tre Taylor scored six and played the lead in largely stifling Tiger star Jared Bloom. The Warsaw senior went in averaging 18.8 points, but finished with six, all in the fourth quarter. He was 2 of 11 from the field and 1 of 5 at the line.

Tiger senior John Swanson led all players with 14 points to go with six rebounds. Sophomore Rashaan Jackson added a career-high 12 points off the bench while junior Jordan Stookey netted nine points and dealt a game-high six assists.

There were 12 lead changes overall and the largest lead was four points by Central, the last time in the third quarter.

Warsaw shot just 39 percent from the field to the Blazers’ 57 percent, but more than compensated by hammering the hosts 34-15 on the glass and outscoring Central 13-4 on multi-chance points.

“The good thing is it’s not effort. The bad thing is it’s not effort,” Noble said. “It’s between our ears, behind our forehead. If we can solve that, there’s nobody we can’t beat the rest of the season, but there’s also no one that can’t beat us, as we’ve proven our last seven games.”



Warsaw 47, Central 45

Warsaw — John Swanson 6-9 2-2 14, Taylor Cone 1-3 2-2 4, Jared Bloom 2-11 1-5 6, Jordan Stookey 4-11 1-2 9, Jason Ferguson 1-1 0-0 2, Rashaan Jackson 3-7 5-6 12, Nate Pearl 0-2 0-1 0, Darren Walcott 0-0 0-0 0, Trae Furnivall 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-44 (.386) 11-18 (.611) 47.

Central — JJ Stahl 4-7 2-7 10, Jaron Walters 3-4 2-2 8, Blake Brouwer 4-6 0-0 9, Tre Taylor 1-5 4-4 6, Terell Street 5-6 2-3 12, Myran McKnight 0-1 0-0 0, Genoris Crawford 0-0 0-0 0, Tray Qualls 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Flax 0-1 0-0 0, Derald Gray 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-30 (.567) 10-16 (.625) 45.

Scoring By Quarters

Warsaw 12 10 11 14 — 47

Central 15 10 8 12 — 45

3-point goals: Warsaw (2-13) — Jackson 1-3, Bloom 1-6; Central (1-7) — Brouwer 1-3.

Rebounds: Warsaw (34) — Swanson 6, Bloom 6, Stookey 5, Ferguson 5, Jackson 5; Central (15) — Taylor 5, Stahl 4.

Assists: Warsaw (14) — Stookey 6, Ferguson 3; Central (7) — Taylor 3, Stahl 2.

Steals: Warsaw (4) — Walcott 2; Central (4) — Street 2.

Turnovers: Warsaw 14, Central 14.

Fouls: Warsaw 19, Central 18. Fouled out — Ferguson (0:35, 4th quarter).

Officials: Jerry Fitzpatrick, Drew Danik, Dennis Groning.

Records: Warsaw 8-4, Central 2-7.

Next: Warsaw at Goshen, Central at Mishawaka, both Friday.

JV: Warsaw 46, Central 41. Top scorers: Warsaw — Cameron Hoskins 10, Nick Sands 10, Jake Mangas 8; Central — Aaron Flax 11, Clinton Parker 10, Daniel Kreider 8. JV records: Warsaw 9-3, Central 3-5.